Wire rope



Jan. 21, 1936. W- Q HQDSON 2,028,156

WIRE ROPE Filed Sept. 14, 1934 Fatenie 3am. 2l, i293@ prima err PATENT QFFICE y 5 Claims.

j said application 637,007, a rope core is prepared from the usual vegetable iibres, such as manila, hemp'or the like, with which is incorporated a relatively absorbent brous material, together with a lubricant. Preferably, a lubricant is prepared ycomprising the absorbent brous material and the mixture is then forced into the strands or into the yarn of the rope core. Finely divided asbestos is preferably used as the absorbent material. Properly cleaned, ground and iiuied asbestos will absorb as much as 14-16 times its weight of lubricant, whereas manila, hemp and the like will absorb only l/a to 1A of their weight.

K However, instead vof the asbestos, a wide range of other absorbents may be used, such as jute, cotton, lintersV or the like. y

In accordance with the present invention, the rope libres are supplied with a fibrous absorbent, together with a lubricant, in a quantity substantially less than the absorbent will hold. As a result, when the rope core is compacted during the manufacture, no substantial quantity of lubricant is squeezed out ofA the brous absorbent material. It is desirab1e to avoid such expulsion of lubricant from the core because if expelled, it would displace or wash oi the lubricant supplied on the wires which is ordinarily different from. that in the core. f

The single ligure of the accompanying drawing is a diagrammatic illustration of a wire rope embodying my invention.

It has also been found desirable in the same connection to use a mixture of absorbent asbestos.

As described in my copending application, a 'coarsely ground asbestos will only absorb about three parts by weight of lubricant. However, a long strand of carded No. 1 libre free from foreign substance and ground very line will absorb from. 14-16 times its weight of lubricant. This finely ground material, however, is extremely diilicult to disperse uniformly inthe lubricant, and in order to distribute .it uniformly the best results can be obtained by mixing it with a major proportion of the more coarsely ground material. y

Any suitable lubricant may be used which the absorbent material will suitably absorb. It is preferred to use a grease of high tenacity and viscosity. A grease comprising 72 parts of mineral oil, for example, 100 viscosity naphthalene base Smackover oil and 21A parts of aluminum voleate is satisfactory. It is preferred to incorporate therewith a minor vproportion of a pre- 5 servative such as creosote, degras, thymol, pine tar or any petroleum oxidation product of the type made by Alox Chemical Company, and particularly the product known as 130 BB. These petroleum oxidation products are described in Patents 1,690,768, 1,690,769, and 1,863,004.

Instead of aluminum oleate soaps, other aluminum soaps such as aluminum tungate or linoleate may be used, or greases may be employed which have for their base any suitable gelling soap. For example, magnesium, calcium, sodium lead, zinc or other soaps may be used.

As an example of the invention, 75parts oi a grease of theL composition above given are incorporated with 25 parts of abestos. The proportion of coarse and ne asbestos used in the mixture will depend upon the particular use to which the rope is to be put, as well as the character of the rope core itself.

Where it is desired to have a core of considerable absorptive powers, it is preferred to use 22 parts of the coarse asbestos with 3 parts of the finely ground asbestos. This will give a total absorptive capacity of 108 parts oi'y lubricant, whereas it will be used with only 75 parts. A somewhat lessabsorptive material may be prepared by using 23 parts of coarse asbestos with 2 parts of finely ground, giving an absorptive capacity of at least 97 parts `of lubricant.

For a relatively low absorptive capacity 24% parts of coarse asbestos may be used with $4 part of finely ground material, giving an absorptive capacity of 80% or more parts or lubricant.

The foregoing description has been given for clearness of understanding only, and no unnecessary limitations should be understood therefrom, but the appended claims should be construed as broadly as permissible in view of the prior art. v

What Iregard as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A wire rope comprising a plurality of strands of wire wound about and pressing upon a fibrous core, said core comprising fibrous rope strands having finely divided asbestos loosely permeated throughout the interstices of the rope strands, and having a lubricant distributed throughout said core and asbestos, the amount of said lubricont being substantially less thanthe absorbing composed of a major proportion of coarsely ground asbestos, and a minor proportion of extremely linely ground asbestos.

2. A wire rope comprising'ar plurality of. strands of wire wound about and pressing upon a brous core, said core comprising fibrous rope strands having iinely divided asbestos loosely permeated throughout the interstioes of the rope strands, and having a lubricant distributed throughout said core and asbestos, the amount of said lubricant being suciently less than the absorbing capacity of the asbestos that under the pressure of manufacture and use the lubricant is held Within the core and prevented from entering the wire strands.

3. A wire rope comprisingl a plurality of strands of wire Wound about and pressing upon a fibrous core, said core comprising fibrous rope strands having a nely divided fibrous material having markedly higher lubricant absorbing powers than the rope fibres loosely permeated throughout the interstices of the rope strands, and having a lubricant distributed throughout said core and absorbent fibrous material, the amount of said lubricant being sufciently less than the absorbing capacity of the absorbent bres that under the pressure of manufacture and use the lubricant is held Within the core and prevented from entering the Wire strands.

4. A wire rope comprising a plurality of strands of wire Wound about and pressing upon a fibrous core, said core comprising fibrous rope strands having nely divided asbestos loosely permeated throughout the interstices thereof, said asbestos being composed of a major proportion of coarsely ground asbestos, and a minor proportion of extremely nely'ground asbestos; and having a lubricant distributed throughout said core and asbestos.

5. Cordage formed of fibrous rope strands and having nnely divided asbestos permeated throughout the interstices thereof, said asbestos being composed of a major proportion of coarse- 1y ground asbestos, and a minor proportion of extremely finely ground asbestos, the cordage having a lubricant distributed throughout its strands and said asbestos.

WALTER D. HODSON. 

